Savior
by a-little-bit-enamoured
Summary: In many ways Sarah owed her life to him, but would he ever acknowledge her existence in the way that she wanted him too. Rating may change.


It was nearing dusk when I resigned myself to the reality that they weren't coming back for me. I looked around me as alone in the forest I stood. No sound carried through the trees to my ears. That's how I knew they weren't coming back. The smallest sound travelled for miles out here and the silence I knew could be deadly.

I should have known better than to wander off from the group. They'd been defending themselves out here and living this life for far longer than I had. They were smart and savvy, clever and calculating. I still wasn't even sure why they'd let me tag along. Sure I knew the basics and I knew how to use the dirk that he had given me but it didn't mean I felt safe being out here all alone now, not knowing whether or not they'd given up the search for me; whether they'd been searching for me at all.

I took in my surroundings and wondered whether or not I should climb a tree to keep myself safe from the herds. A few minutes of trying to scale the trunk of what I deemed the easiest tree told me that the noise I was making in trying to do so would see my demise a whole lot sooner than if I just stayed put on the ground. As darkness began to descend I lowered myself to the ground and pressed myself as close as I could to the trunk of the tree I'd tried earlier to climb.

I pulled the dirk he'd given me from my boot and held it tight it my hands and hoped that I wouldn't have to use it. I knew that if I stayed quiet and didn't move the herds _should_ continue straight past me. At least that's what I hoped. I sat pressed against the tree and harkened my ears for even the smallest of sounds. I began to shiver and wrapped my arms about myself. With the warmth of the sun long gone the chill of the night air began to grow icy. Soon the only sound I could hear was the chattering of my teeth. I tried hard to bite them together and stop them. I knew the sound was louder in my own head than it was anywhere else but the thought of it being loud enough to draw a herd right to me wouldn't leave me alone.

I shuddered and my ears pricked up as I heard the briefest and sharpest of sounds; a twig cracking somewhere in the distance. My shivering now became that of fear as I gripped harder to the dirk in my hand and forgot for a moment how cold I was. There it was again, _snap_, a little closer now. I tried so hard not to make an audible sound as I heard it again. Logic should have told me that it was too quiet to be an entire herd but I was too scared to think logically. One on their own I could probably handle but more than that I wasn't so sure. Lord knows how I'd survived so long out here on my own before he'd found me.

_Snap! _The sound resonated through the air much closer now and I couldn't help but gasp. My sharp intake of breath sounded louder in my own ears than any snap of a twig.

"Sarah?" His voice rasped in a whisper travelling easily to me in the still of the night.

My own whisper choked in my throat as I tried to answer. "H … He … Here" I gasped. "I'm over here."

I knew his senses were keen and he would follow the sound of my choked whisper straight to where I was. I took his hand as he reached it down to where I sat and pulled me up. He chipped my chin up to meet his eyes in the moonlight. "You're okay? You didn't get bit?"

"I'm fine." I murmured back as quietly as I could through the darkness I knew probably too loud for his liking. He didn't waste any time fussing over me. It wasn't in his nature. He reached into the small pack he held and pulled a spare hoodie from it and passed it to me. I pulled it gratefully over my head. It was hugely oversized on me but it was warm and it smelt like him.

"Let's get back." He said turning away. "This time stay close." He added.

I pursed my lips together as I moved to follow him; not from cold this time but from the growing ray of hope that rose up within me that maybe even in a small way he cared for me. I knew he held his crossbow close at his side ready to draw it if he needed to. He always did. I knew now just as I had on that fateful night a few months back that I was safe with him.

I followed diligently behind him through the darkness trying to tread carefully as he'd taught me and not make a sound. As we neared the road he put his free arm out to stop me and place me behind the shield of his own body. It was then that I heard the unmistakable sound of walkers approaching. I couldn't tell how many of them there were through the darkness but as my eyes adjusted and I peeped around his side I could see that there weren't many; half a dozen at most and he'd already taken two out with his crossbow with a well aimed shot square between the eyes.

I sucked in a breath as one lunged at him from the side. He wasted no time in drawing a dagger and plunging deep into the creature's forehead and then took out the other three in just as quick succession. I spun around at the cracking of twigs at my rear, the hand holding my own dagger flying up in defense as I did so. I plunged it into the decaying flesh of the walker that had been behind me. It crumpled to my feet as I withdrew my knife.

He placed his hand upon my shoulder and pulled me back toward the road, steering me in the direction of Alexandria. I stole a glance back at him in the moonlight and found myself wishing and not for the first time that he would stop and draw me to him.

"Keep moving." He graveled through the darkness as I turned my attention back to the road in front of me. I knew enough of his often gruff personality not to expect any show of concern. It didn't mean I didn't crave it though. From that very first night that he had found me I had known it was meant to be. I was meant to survive, fleeing from my whole family, all of them turned, to be found by him huddled by the roadside trying desperately just to hide for a fleeting moment. Daryl Dixon had been my savior that night and I intended on making him see it.

As the gates of Alexandria came into focus he pulled me back and looked me over once more. "You were lucky tonight. Next time we go out don't be so stupid." I nodded and tried to push back the tears that formed in the corners of my eyes. _Next time._ So there would be a next time. I swiped the corners of my eyes and he placed his arm around my shoulders as he led me toward the gates. It was as close as he'd ever gotten to showing me any kind of affection and I sucked in my breath trying not to draw attention to what his close proximity made me feel.

"It's Daryl." Came a call from atop of the wall. "He's got the girl."

"Open it up." Another voice called down to those on the ground.

I felt Daryl's arm loosen around my shoulders as the gates began to creep open in front us. To everyone else I was still just _the girl_, only he and Michonne ever referred to me by my name. I knew I still had a long way to go to prove myself to many of them but I hoped that he would soon have more than just my back.


End file.
